“Coach Carter” is a 2005 American drama film starring Samuel L. Jackson, directed by Thomas Carter, and released by Paramount Pictures. It is based on a true story, in which Richmond High School head basketball coach, Ken Carter made headlines in 1999 for locking out his undefeated team due to their poor academic results.
The Richmond High Oilers have not had a good record, winning only four games last season, and it's time for a change in management. Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson), a record-maker when he attended Richmond, is looking into possibly taking the job as their new coach, and after watching them play his son Damien's (Robert Ri'chard) high school St. Francis and witnessing the game almost turn into a brawl, he can see they are in dire need of some leadership. He decides to take the job, under a few conditions. The players will sign a contract agreeing to keep a minimum 2.3 grade point average, go to every class, sit in the front row and wear decent apparel, including a tie, on game day. He will have access to progress reports on all of his players from their teachers to make sure they are honoring the contract. Carter then meets with the team, including Jason “Worm” Willis (Antwon Tanner), Junior Battle (Nana Gbewonyo), Jason Lyle (Channing Tatum), Maddux (Texas Battle), Timo Cruz (Rick Gonzalez), and Kenyan Stone (Rob Brown.) This announcement doesn't go over too well at the first practice. Some players leave the team, including last year's high scorer Timo Cruz, but the rest stay. In Carter's mind, this is only a minor setback, and he starts the team on a regiment of hustling up and down the court and game fundamentals. From that point on, the team goes on an undefeated winning streak, even with the help of Cruz, who finally decides to sign Carter’s contract.
The movie reaches its climax when Carter discovers that members of his team have been skipping class and failing to honor the GPA requirement of their contract. In response, Carter locks up the gym, cancels the games and sends them to the library instead of practices until they get their grades back up. He gives them stats about dropout rates, gang violence and future jail terms, some of which they dismiss. He is soon attacked verbally and physically (a rock is thrown through his shop’s front window), but he stands his ground.
Through hard work and determination, he inspires the boys to make a better life for themselves overall and not just on the basketball court. They soon manage to achieve the GPA requirement and start to play the games. Unfortunately, they lose to the No.1 ranked team, St.Francis in the state tournament. Although they lose the game, Carter understands that the boys have won the pride and he is proud of them. The movie ends with a coda telling us what happened to the boys, which college and scholarship they are managed to go for.
In “Coach Carter”, there are several social issues that we can discuss with. First is the educational issue. Some of the players’ parents, including Worm’s mother (Sonya Eddy), Kenyon’s mother (Gwen McGee) and Maddux’s mother (Ausanta) demand that the school board, headed by President Martinez (Jenny Gago) fire Carter. They see basketball as their kids’ only way out of poverty and a bleak future but Carter disagrees. Carter, on the other hand, sees education as an important factor for the boys to be successful in the future. He does not want anyone of them end up being in the jail. Besides, Timo Cruz deals with drugs with his cousin in the movie. This shows the drug-dealing issue occurs among the teenagers. They take drugs and sell them to earn profits. However, Cruz eventually realised his mistake when he witnessed his cousin being shot by gun. Pregnancy before marriage is also another social issue occurs in the movie. Kenyon’s girlfriend, Kyra is pregnant and they face a dilemma of whether to have the baby. At first, Kenyon does not have the confident to manage both his family and study at the same time. Kyra then takes the decision to abort the baby. Kenyon successfully gets a scholarship, attends Sacramento State University and receives a degree in Communications.
“Coach Carter” also shows some moral values which we can learn from it. From Ken Carter, we learn to be more respectful. Although the players greet their coach with the n-word, he responds by calling them “sir”. We learn to respect others although the others might not do so. This shows that we are highly educated and having a good manner. Furthermore, we should excel in our study in order to get into higher institution. The purpose of Coach Carter to set the GPA requirement in the contract is to ensure that the boys can get a place in the college or university after their high school. Another moral value that can be found from this movie is to stay away from the negative activities like drug-dealing. Cruz’s cousin, who deals with drugs, end up being shot on the street. We should be responsible for our own acts, think before we do everything.
In conclusion, “Coach Carter” is indeed a very motivational movie. Praise for its good story and a flawless set of actors. It can definitely put a factious sequel to further motivate youngsters.
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